10 Classic Movies With LGBTQIA Characters

TV & Film

Jul 8

LGBTQIA characters have always been in cinema, even before it was legal for them to be there. The internet is rife with discussion about how movies have ‘got woke’. But the truth is classic movies did explore gender, sexuality and inclusion. If you don’t believe us, below are ten examples.

The Legal Background.

In 1934, the Hayes Code banned depictions of LGBTQIA in cinema, however this was revoked in 1968. The year before, the United Kingdom had made homosexuality legal (in the 1960s the UK had a thriving film industry).

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Despite its intentions, The Hayes Code had not managed to prevent queer characters from appearing in movies, but writers had to be more subtle with their portrayal. But after the late sixties, it became easier to get around the censors.

10: Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

The James Bond villains Mr. Wint (Bruce Glover) and Mr. Kid (Putter Smith) were the series’ first queer couple. They can be seen holding hands and getting jealous over interactions with other characters. Bruce Glover also stated in an interview that director Guy Hamilton had told him this was the case.

9: Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Yes, the one starring James Dean, the ultimate all American movie. It had a queer character. Plato Crawford is Jim’s best friend, but he unfortunately dies in a car crash.

In one scene, Jim lent Plato his jacket and rather than put it on he cradled it tenderly to his chest, so it’s suggested he had feelings for the lead.

8: Midnight Cowboy (1969)

This movie caused such a stir that it’s rating was upgraded from an R to an X when it was first released. Although in 1971 they put it back in its original category. Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman (we could have also added him to this list for Tootsie) put in amazing performances, showing the darker side of New York City in the 1960s.

7: Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)

One of the first movies that doesn’t show queer characters as isolated from society. The movie revolves around a gay Jewish Doctor, who is caught in a love triangle with a younger man. The British movie contains plenty of normal suburban melodrama and dark humor. It’s worth a watch if you’ve never seen it.

6: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

In this high stakes heist movie, Al Pacino’s character is married to a trans-woman and planning to use the money from the job for her surgery. This movie was filmed sixty years before gay marriage was legalized. It features many ‘woke’ concepts that are people assume are recent, including dead naming, and using the incorrect pronouns.

5: Cabaret (1972)

Cabaret was a smash hit the year it was released, taking home eight Oscars, including Best Actress, Best Picture and Best Director (Bob Fosse).

It’s star, the daughter of Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli played a cabaret singer during the rise of Nazism. Brian played by Michael York is openly bisexual in the movie, and sleeps with both genders in the plot. However, it also addresses the restrictions of all freedoms created by fascism as the atmosphere around the club changes.

4: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show holds the record for longest-running theatrical release, and grossed over 340 million at the box office. And that’s not counting the money the Broadway and Westend shows have made. It has a cult like following, in large part due to Tim Curry’s performance of Sweet Transvestite.

3: Victor/Victoria (1982)

Julie Andrews was nominated for an Oscar for this hit comedy. Victoria is a cabaret singer pretending to be a man who performs as a woman.

The ruse is accomplished with the help of her gay bestie (Robert Preston), who poses as her boyfriend. The show becomes a hit. The film is tremendously funny, and the friendship between Toddy and Victoria takes centre stage over the romance. An excellent watch that still holds up.

2: La Cage Aux Follies (1978) /The Birdcage (1996)

Adapted from a play of the same name, The french movie won the Golden Globe for best foreign language film. Even although it wasn’t in English, it was extremely popular with US audiences. It was later adapted into the Robin Williams flick, The Birdcage. The premise; son of a drag club owner, and his same sex (drag performer) partner gets engaged. Her very conservative family insist on meeting the family. At the dinner, they pretend to be a straight couple, with one of them dressing up as a woman for the night.

1: Some Like It Hot (1959)

American staples Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon spend most of the movie dressed as women. Tony Curtis gained a greater understanding of the other gender, while Jack Lemon ends up fulling embracing his alter-ego Daphne. The final gag of the movie was that the billionaire who was courting Daphne knew his biological sex all along. It was also heavily hinted that the pair intended to marry. Audiences didn’t seem to mind.

Some Like It Hot was one of the highest grossing films of 1959. It got a handful of Oscar nominations, including for Best Director, and Best Actor (Jack Lemmon). Not only was Some Like It Hot released before the change in the Hayes Code, Gay marriage wasn’t legalized until 2015, so it was ahead of it’s time.

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